


secrets i have held in my heart (are harder to hide that i thought)

by signsoflight



Series: adventures of the power geeks [2]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship (but it's not between Trimberly), Gryffindor Jason, Gryffindor Zack, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff Trini, Jimberly Brotp, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rangers BROTP, Ravenclaw Billy, Secret Relationship, Slow Burn, Slytherin Kim, Swearing, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Sorting Hat is a Dick, This Is STUPID, actually yes i do, everyone is a dick sometimes, kim is a dick sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 10:32:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15947549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signsoflight/pseuds/signsoflight
Summary: ‘You’re insufferable.’ Kim scowled, and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.Trini responded flatly, barely even looking at Kim. ‘You’re unbearable.’‘You’re the worst thing about Hogwarts.’‘I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate you.’Kim sent Trini a self-satisfied smirk and flipped her hair over her shoulder. ‘Good to know I’m that important to you.’Nothing was said for a while, the air tense between them. It was only just as the Professor yelled for the class to leave the Potions room, that Kim caught Trini murmur under her breath, ‘Shit.’Smugly, she got up from her chair, grabbed her bag and strode out of the room in one smooth motion, the feeling of Trini’s glare still hot on the back of her head.orthe gang goes to hogwarts, and shit happens.





	secrets i have held in my heart (are harder to hide that i thought)

**Author's Note:**

> OK YES I KNOW THAT I ALREADY HAVE A LONG ASS FIC THAT HASN'T BEEN UPDATED IN LIKE TEN THOUSAND YEARS BUT LISTEN 
> 
> this fucking idea wouldn't let go of me so i wrote the first chapter in like one long ass night/day fuelled by sleep deprivation and spite.
> 
> i lowkey regret everything, but also nothing all at the same time. this is absolutely gratuitous and unnecessary, but whatever.
> 
> hey, who knows, i might actually stick with this one as well.

Platform 9 and ¾ was as busy as it was at the beginning of every new school year, crowded with families and students and trunks everywhere; the screeching of owls could be heard over all of the overlapping and interceding conversations. She had been here a couple of times before, to see of some family members, but something about this year being her turn made Kim’s stomach churn with nerves and she wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep until she was eighteen.

‘Now, Kim. Have you got everything?’ Her parents, in stark contrast to her troubled state, were like an island of supreme calm in the busy station, standing tall and straight, looking unbothered, even as they were jostled in the busy platform. Everywhere else around her, parents were embracing their children and laughing and crying with them, emotional about leaving them. 

Meanwhile, Kim’s parents looked almost bored, as if being here to see their daughter off to school was a chore. She knew that they were proud of her, but it was always in a distant way. Her parents had never been too involved in her life; even now, in a moment that should surely revolve around her and be important to the whole family, she could tell that her mother’s mind was back in her office, thinking over her work for the day.

‘Yes, Mum. I have everything. The house elves checked my trunk before we left the house.' Her voice was flat, even to her own ears, but she couldn’t help that. She didn’t care too much about leaving her parents either - she had always been pretty independant, and the prospect of leaving them didn’t make her nervous. It didn’t change the disappointed that weighed in her stomach though - maybe she had foolishly thought that this might be a time when things would be different.

‘Remember to work hard and make us proud.’ There was a sort of untold warning in her mum's voice. Kim didn't want to think about not living up to her parents' expectations. Making them proud was something that they were fixated on, but Kim also knew that they had reputations, ones that they expected her to help uphold. If she did something stupid, it would reflect on more than just herself - that was what she had always been taught.

Kim nodded on cue. ‘I will, Mum.’ The words were rehearsed and robotic, but her mother appeared satisfied enough.

‘And don’t forget to write.’ Her father chimed in, a rakish smile on his face and his dark brown eyes twinkling warmly. She smiled at him despite herself, but it was shallow and fake. Kim knew that even if she did write, her parents would struggle to get around to replying, and it was more likely to be written by one of the house elves. Whilst it was true that her father had always tried to be there for Kim, he was just as split between work and family as her mum was. She appreciated the effort, but it all seemed to fall a little short, especially now.

Though Kim had always known that her parents were important figures within the wizarding world, he had never had any time for her either and she couldn’t help but resent that. Maybe that was wrong, but she had always felt like more of a trophy to them, something to show off, rather than a loved daughter.

And nothing would be more of a prize to them, a figurative cherry on top, than her being sorted into Ravenclaw. Pretty much every member of the Hart family had been placed into Ravenclaw - that was almost their family’s defining characteristic, along with their astounding hubris. And Kim, despite how hard she had tried to convince herself, was probably not going to be in Ravenclaw.

She had spent her whole life trying to be like her family, but Kimberly knew that she had never quite fit, even in her family. She was like a puzzle piece, the last one in the whole box, but she had edges when she should have holes. She didn't belong in the one place where she was supposed to, because she wasn’t the person that she was supposed to be. She wasn’t the Kimberly Hart that her parents wanted her to be. 

‘Yes, Kimberly. Please do write to tell us all about Hogwarts and how it all goes.’ For a second, she was almost fooled into thinking that her mum was being genuinely warm, but the words turned empty and meaningless when Kim realised that she wasn’t even looking at her, instead at the fancy gold watch adorning her wrist that seemed to get more attention that her most of the time. 

‘We’ll have to hurry. I have meetings soon.’ She caught the hushed words that her mother exchanged with her father, and Kim had to turn away so that her parents wouldn’t see her hurt expression. 

She looked around at the mass of people - families with younger children, and students wearing Hogwarts robes, and friends running about. Kimberly held back her sigh. She couldn’t see any of the other first years that she already knew - thanks to being raised in Pureblood circles.

Loneliness pressed down on her chest until she felt it ache. Kimberly scoffed to herself, she wasn’t even on the train yet and she was already acting like this. She told herself to focus, and went back to taking note of the other people on the platform. 

She allowed the noise and clamor of the platform to distract her from her thoughts for a couple of seconds; the sound of her mother’s words faded into the cacophony of yells and shouts. 

‘Kimberly!’ The sudden sound of her mother snapping brought Kim’s attention back to the woman before her quickly. Her mum stood, arms crossed, with a stern gleam in her eyes. ‘Were you even listening to me?’ 

Before Kim could defend herself, she scoffed and answered her own rhetorical question. ‘Of course you weren’t! That won’t pass at Hogwarts, I warn you. You’ll have to pay more attention to your studies if you want to be top of the year.’

‘Of course. Sorry, Mum.’ Kim felt her heart grow heavy and sink to her stomach with a sickening lurch. Of course, there was also the fact that her parents seemed oblivious to the amount of expectation and pressure they were heaping on her. She hadn't even stepped on the Express yet, and she was already dreading what that might mean for her school year.

The expectations and pressure had only seemed to increase as the beginning of the school year had approached, and for once her parents actually seemed interested in her as they told her everything about Hogwarts. 

But now, they were being as dismissive and disinterested as normal, and Kim couldn’t but feel a little annoyed and disappointed. Here she was torn up about not being Ravenclaw material and her parents couldn’t even make themselves give a shit.

After all, she knew that she was clever, but she was a far cry from “the brightest in the year” type of student that she was supposed to be and that her parents wanted from her. 

It wasn't surprising that they wanted her to excel - her parents had been hailed as two of the smartest wizards at Hogwarts whilst they were there. Perhaps it was a given that they wanted their daughter to live up to their standards. Either way, Kim was pretty sure that wasn't her.

Her father broke her out of her thoughts as he smiled at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling kindly. Kim felt her heart soften and her spine sag. She would miss her father, in a way. He had a certain knack for lighting up every room he walked into with his smile and jokes. 

Sure, he had little time for her due to his job, but that was him trying to provide a good life for his daughter. Mr. Hart had always been better at communicating with Kim than his wife anyway.

‘Goodbye, Kim.’ He said, his tone soft and his eyes sad. ‘We’ll miss you.’ In actuality, she doubted that her absence would be that noticeable for them.

‘I will -’ she began to reply, but as soon as she got the first words out, the train whistle sounded for all of the students to board, and her heart soared. At least there was no excuse for Kim to be scolded any longer. Indeed, her mother frowned, eyebrows drawing together to create a crease of displeasure and dissatisfaction in her forehead.

‘Write all about your new friends in Ravenclaw. Merlin knows that house was where we found our best friends.’ Her father told her and Kim watched his grow misty with nostalgia as he thought back to his own Hogwarts days. 

She scowled at the ground but nodded, turning away from her parents and walking to the train. Of course, even her father managed to ruin a rare moment when she felt like maybe it would be ok if she wasn’t the person that she had always been forced to be. Kim didn’t bother looking back, knowing that they had pressing matters to attend to and wouldn’t waste time watching her board the train.

She managed to get her trunk into an empty compartment and hurled it onto the luggage rack. Before she took her seat, she took her wand out of her robe pocket and smiled down at it. She really loved her wand - it was long and elegant and fit perfectly in her hand. 

Kim cast a quick Silencing Charm. Thankfully, her numerous tutors over the years had taught her a couple of spells before she came to Hogwarts, one of which was the Silencing Charm. Since she was pretty inexperienced with magic, they left a lot to be desired, but the sounds of laughter and chatter were at least muffled.

She flopped down into her seat, slipping the wand back into her pocket. She still felt the sort of tingling feeling in her bones that followed performing magic and she smiled despite herself. That after feeling was kind of addictive.

Though Kim knew that they wouldn't be there, she still tried to spot her parents amongst the crowds despite herself. She would be lying if she said that her heart didn't sink when she didn’t see her father’s unruly brown hair, nor her mother’s deep purple robes.

Kim leaned back in the seat and tried to stop thinking about them. It didn’t matter how many times they let her down, she kept thinking that things would change. But maybe she just had to accept that her parents weren’t the most emotionally available people out there and move on. 

She leaned her head on the window and resolved to simply sleep until the train reached Hogwarts. Hopefully she would just wake up in time to get her stuff together and be timely in getting off the train - it wouldn’t do to make a bad first impression. After all, whatever would her parents say?

However, before she could slip into sleep, the door of the compartment opened with a creaking groan, startling Kim. Her head snapped to face the doorway, seeing a boy standing there, still slightly shrouded in the shadows of the hallway of the train.

Though his face and expression appeared confident, it wasn’t hard to see the nervousness that was working its way through his body, displayed in the tapping of fingers and fiddling with clothes. His dark blond hair draped slightly over his face and he was dressed in muggle clothes, a dark tee shirt and jacket over jeans. 

She looked down at the hem of her robes with a frown, wishing that her parents would allow her to wear muggle style clothing for once in her life and just blend in. It was almost as if they were actually trying to isolate her from her peers. Kim frowned deeper at the thought - that was probably something that they would both want to happen and would fully do. After all, in their world, grades and achievements seemed to come before genuine human connections.

The boy looked nervously at her, and she vaguely realised that she must have been scowling enough to scare the already nervous boy. ‘Uh, everywhere else is full, so I was wondering if I could sit in this compartment?’

His words poured out in a nervous stream, rambling in his anxiousness, and his face looked sheepish once he had spoken - like he knew the words were wrong in some way and regretted them. Kim considered him for a second, a blank expression on her face.

On one hand, she was enjoying the peace and calm that came with a train journey in solitude. After all, she hadn’t cast the Silencing Charm for no reason - she wasn’t looking to be bothered. Kim had planned to sleep her way through this journey, a handy way to also avoid the nervousness she knew she would feel about her sorting. So, she wasn’t too happy about the prospect of small talk and awkwardness.

Despite this, Kim felt herself soften at the nervous look on his face. He was acting like she was a bomb, about to go off at his words. If he turned out to be too annoying, she would just tell him to shut up. Or maybe cast a jinx. That was always a good option.

‘Sure. Sit down.’ She finally said, gesturing to the seat across from her.

Relief flitted across his face, his straight spine sagging slightly, like he couldn’t keep it up any longer. He scrambled into the compartment, pulling the door closed quickly. ‘I’m Jason. Jason Scott.’ he introduced himself with an easy smile as he sat down, white teeth flashing.

‘Kim.’ She replied, trying to be short and unfriendly enough to limit his attempts to start a conversation. Also, she didn’t want to give too much away to him. Hogwarts was about making friends, her parents had always said, but it was also about making connections. Important connections with the right people that would benefit both her family and herself in later life. 

It had always been drilled into her head that when she was at Hogwarts, she wasn’t just representing herself, but all of the Harts. They were a proud family, and her parents didn’t want her ruining their reputation amongst the other magical families by making friends with the wrong people or acting stupidly. 

Jason Scott, a muggleborn with zero idea about anything in the magical world was certainly not the kind of connection that her parents were looking for. And Kim wasn’t looking to make friends. But the boy was relentless.

‘Are you a pureblood?’ He asked curiously, his head tilted to the side like an inquisitive puppy. Seeing as she was in robes, he must have thought that she was a pureblood or perhaps a halfblood. 

‘Yeah, I am.’ She watched his expression, but it didn’t curl into one of disgust so she was good. Sometimes, being a pureblood gave her more of a bad reputation than a good one. It may be something that the Slytherins valued above else, but it meant that most took her for a snobby asshole.

‘You’re obviously not a pureblood.’ She said dryly. ‘Half or muggle?’ She said, her tone cool but neutral. To be honest, Kim didn't really care. This was some sort of inane conversation - small talk that she had been dragged into. She knew that it would be rude to not ask him in return, but she knew that the boy was a muggleborn - his obvious discomfort in the world of magic made that obvious enough.

‘I’m a muggleborn.’ Jason laughed, not taking her remark as an insult. ‘My dad doesn’t exactly understand any of this, nor did he really want me to go to Hogwarts.’

Jason looked sheepish, but his tone was light, and Kim didn’t make a big deal of any of it. Kim wanted to ask about his mum, wondering why he only mention his father, but figured he would have added it if it was relevant. She didn't need to stick her nose in. 

Besides, they weren’t friends. Just as she didn’t want to reveal her figurative hand of cards, she also didn’t need to know those personal details about Jason. Then he would simply expect them from her. And that certainly wasn’t what she wanted. 

After all, the more people that she actually let in, the more chance that she had of being hurt. All of her life, she had only had her family and the children of family friends in her life, and she didn’t let any of them in at this point. 

Her cousins were alright, but most of them were too old or too young to actually form any sort of meaningful connection with Kim. And the other pureblooded children could either be assholes or alright. Either way, she didn’t see them enough to actually be friends with any of them. 

Combining a friendless childhood with emotionally and, often physically, absent parents lead to Kim being kind of cold to others and blanching at the prospect of letting people in. 

After all, she had let her parents in time and time again, giving them chance after chance to actually act like parents and they let her down every time. Kim had had enough of getting hurt. It was better to be cold and alone then open and hurting. 

Although, her parents were important people in the Ministry, and she had picked up a couple of things from them - philosophies, she guessed they could be called. One of which was that people can be useful. Once you have someone’s trust and loyalty, they’ll do a lot of things for you. Like keeping secrets or helping you out in tough situations. 

The idea of having friends who had her back was an appealing one, she had to admit. She just wondered if it was worth the risk of getting hurt.

‘Well, I see you’re here on the train despite that.’ Kim stopped thinking about her own life and replied to Jason before she could seem rude.

‘Yeah!’ he chuckled, earnestly so. Kim sent him a quick smile, one that was more than a little fake, before turning her attention back to the countryside moving past them - at least, she did, till Jason said, ‘So, what house do you think you’ll be in?’

More small talk, she internally groaned, but nevertheless turned back to the boy.

‘I’m going to be a Ravenclaw.’ She said quickly, not allowing that niggling feeling of doubt, the churning in her stomach to delay or change her answer. ‘All my family are Ravens and I will be too.’

Her answer was more than a challenge than anything else. Jason appeared slightly taken aback at her adamency, but it wasn't directed at him, in all honesty. It was more an effort to convince herself than anything else. The boy continued on anyway. 

‘I think I would be happy with any house, to be honest, but I just don’t feel like I would really suit Slytherin or Ravenclaw. I will probably be either a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor.’

‘I hear the Puff common room is next to the kitchens, so there is that if you turn out to be a Hufflepuff.’ She remarked passively, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, one that seemed to be getting a little more real by the second. 

Jason outright laughed at that, his head tipping back and his mouth opening, more of his shiny white teeth flashing. He seemed like the cookie-cutter blond haired, blue eyed boy. 

Kim felt something in her twist at that thought - there had to be something about him, some flaw to his character. He seemed too perfect, too humble and kind whilst also polite. Excitement spiked in her stomach at the prospect of figuring out what made him tick.

People were like puzzles. It was always interesting to find out exactly what made them, as an individual, function. Not only was it fascinating, but it also made it easier to get them on your side if you could appeal to them in the most fundamental way.

‘Yeah,’ Jason continued happily, ‘I would be happy with the kitchens. Aren’t the Slytherin areas in the dungeons?’ He asked, but she was pretty sure he already knew that as was just trying to further their conversation. 

‘Yeah.’ Kim said. ‘I don’t know many people in Slytherin but apparently, they are a bit cold and damp - the perfect place for snakes.’ She laughed. She didn’t hold any hostility towards Slytherins as a group - after all, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were traditionally allies.

Jason laughed as well, either having the same sense of humour as her, or figuring out that staying on her good side was a good idea for someone with no one else to sit with. ‘

How do you know so much for a muggleborn?’ She asked him, tipping her head to the side, actually curious now. Jason was more interesting that she thought he would be.

‘I read Hogwarts: A History.’ He admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. Kim laughed, a genuine one that almost slipped out of her mouth, her eyes crinkling and a small snort escaping the way that always happened when she laughed honestly.

Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise, fixing her with an jokingly judgemental look. ‘Did you just snort?’

‘No, I did not. And if you tell anyone that I did, I will kill you.’ She gave him a glare, unable to manage anything more than one that was half hearted and almost playful. Truth be told, she was sort of enjoying their bantering. Jason seemed like a pretty nice guy. Just because she was friendly with someone didn’t mean that she had to become emotionally attached. She didn’t have to be hurt just because she found someone to laugh with.

'You know I'm pretty sure that you could.' Jason remarked as he leaned back in his seat. He didn't seem bothered by it - it was more of a statement of fact. 'But I don't even know your last name, so I couldn't tell anyone anything.'

That was true. She was glad she hadn't told him her full name. The one that would gain favour with the other purebloods, the reputation behind it one of enough power and influence.

Despite that, she found herself speaking anyway: ‘My name is Kimberly Hart.’ Her voice was quiet and soft. The words were careful. Jason just nodded and grinned widely at her as relief flooded through Kim's chest for some unknown reason.

‘Well, Kimberly Hart, it’s nice to meet you.’ His teeth sort of gleamed in the sunlight, and for a second she was struck with some sort of emotion. It was something resembling affection but she refused to call it that, returning the smile and turning away to the window instead. 

Kim focused on the passing scenery and tried not to focus on her companion in the the train compartment, knowing that it would simply lead to her dwelling on the things that she knew she shouldn’t focus on, like personal relationships with other people. She had vowed to herself that she would actually make an effort to try and do as her parents had told her to and focus on academics, regardless of the result of the dreaded Sorting Hat test. 

It didn’t matter that she couldn’t stop herself from laughing with Jason - the real world was cutthroat and vicious. There would be no time for sympathy for blond muggleborn boys, even if they made her smile or laugh. She had focus on being the best, on making her parents proud, and on finding a way to the top. 

The countryside zoomed past them, a blur of green fields and hedges and blue skies with white clouds. It was pretty clear and warm for the beginning of September, and the train ride was more enjoyable than she thought that it would be. Kim didn’t want to think about how Jason was a part of that. 

Despite her Silencing Charm, the laugher and voices of other people in the surrounding compartments was audible, snatches of conversations reaching Kim’s ears. The train windows rattled slightly with the speed at which they were hurtling along the tracks. The silence weighed a little on her and she cleared her throat and turned back to him. ‘So, do you have siblings?’

He nodded, seeming thankful to get back to talking as well. ‘I’ve got a little sister. Pearl.’ He smiled as he said her name and Kim couldn’t help but feel a little envious at the obvious affection he had for her. She had always wanted a sibling. 

‘How old is she?’

‘She’s still pretty young. She’s six.’

‘Huh, cute. Ever displayed signs of magic?’

Jason laughed, ‘No more than I did and I had no idea that I was a wizard. Neither did anyone else. I was a pretty normal kid until I got that letter from a goddamn owl.’

‘Well, I think most muggles would be pretty shocked to get a letter from an owl.’ Kim reasoned, laughing as well. 

There came a sudden rap on the door, and Kim stiffened up. The smile slid off of her face and she called out for the person on the other side of the door to open it. She was expecting it to be some other student looking for their friends or something, but instead the trolley lady poked her head into the compartment. 

‘Would you dears like anything?’ Her smile was bright and her eyes shone, but Kim had more of an eye on the contents of the trolley than the woman herself. She began to dig in the pockets of her robe for her coin purse, but Jason just shrugged - making a face and murmuring something about not having any galleons. 

She froze, just as she was about to ask for some of the sweets. Guilt and pity flickered in her chest, like flames licking at and melting her heart until she caved. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the money, and this didn't make them friends. It was just a nice thing to do. 

‘Two boxes of Bertie’s Beans, and four chocolate frogs, please.’ She said firmly, before she could change her mind. ‘Oh, and can we please have some peppermint toads and some fizzing whizzbees?’ The old lady nodded and passed over the food she requested. Kim gave her the galleons owed before sitting back down. 

She dumped the food onto the bench next to her before passing over half of it to Jason. ‘Wait, what are you doing?’ He asked, confused and looking a little guilty

‘You don’t really think I got all this for myself, did you?’ She said, smiling a little. 

Jason fell silent. ‘You didn’t have to do that, you know.’ He said eventually. He stared at the pile of sweets next to him and fiddled with his thumbs like he felt bad.

‘I know.’ Kim replied. ‘I did it because I wanted to. Dig in, Jason.’

Sure enough, he tore open a pack of the Bertie’s Every Flavour Beans and began popping them into his mouth. ‘Thanks, Kim.’ Jason somehow managed to get out with his mouth full of jelly beans. 

He said the words like they were easy and simple to get out, like he meant them but they didn’t weigh heavily on him. Kim had never been like that - every thing that others gave her was another thing that she had to repay. It was weird to seem him be so casual about that. 

‘No worries, man.’ She nodded her head at him and turned back to the countryside zooming past her window. 

‘Hey, so what about you?’ Jason went back to their previous conversation. ‘Do you have any siblings?’

‘No, but I’ve got a lot of cousins.’

‘Really? Do your parents come from big families then?’

‘Sort of. We’re purebloods, but my mum is also Indian so she has a big family, or at least a lot of people we consider family.’ Kim tried to explain, but she didn’t want to spend too long on the subject. Most people didn’t normally really get it, and she didn’t like how self conscious it made her feel. 

‘What do you mean?’ Jason tilted his head and looked at her, curiosity in his eyes as opposed to judgement or confusion. He genuinely just seemed to want to know, so Kim decided to go for it. 

She took a deep breath before speaking again, ‘Well, they’re like family friends, but more than that. They were really there for my mum and her family back when my grandparents moved from the Indian wizarding world to the British one. They’ve been like family ever since.’

Jason seemed to consider her words. ‘Huh. That’s pretty cool.’

Kim smiled and nodded, trying to ignore the way that her heart beat erratically in her chest. Over and over in her head, she told herself that this wasn’t letting Jason in. It was obvious that she wasn’t white, this was just a little more detail about her Indian side.

This didn’t mean anything.

But then Jason smiled and she returned it and all of sudden, affection welled in her chest. She turned to the window and squeezed her eyes shut. It would be better not to focus on how quickly she had strayed from her plan of not getting too friendly with any of the other first years. 

It didn’t look promising for her supposed plan to stay cold and alone, an island of a person that would fight their way to the top of the year, and make her parents realise that just because she wasn’t a Ravenclaw didn’t mean that she couldn’t be everything else that they wanted, and that people would still want connections with her.

Kim sighed to herself. In all honesty, her plan was a little ambitious and she hadn’t expected to stick to it quite as religiously as she had hoped. After all, one of the supposedly brilliant things that her parents had always told her about when it came to Ravenclaw was the friends that they had made - even her parents had managed to make real friends at Hogwarts. 

She was far too tired of being alone. Still, someone like Jason was a surprise. Maybe, if Jason kept smiling and making her laugh and not feel quite so isolated, having friends wouldn’t be as bad as she had always thought. But this didn’t mean that she would drop her guard - Kim still refused to get hurt. Her walls were impregnable.

‘Do you have any idea how much longer till we will reach Hogwarts?’ Jason asked, still rummaging through the food that Kim had bought him. He popped a couple more jelly beans in his mouth, and began to unwrap one of the chocolate frogs.

She shrugged, turning back to him. ‘My parents said the journey is a couple of hours, but I don’t know how far we’ve gone.’ Jason nodded, looking a little put out - obviously he was feeling restless or something. Regardless, there was nothing that she could do about that. 

‘Also, watch out.’ His head snapped up and he looked at her questioningly. She nodded at the frog in his hands. ‘I don’t know if you’ve had a chocolate frog before, but they leap.’

Jason looked absolutely astonished, and he looked at the wrapped chocolate in his hands with shock. Kim continued, amusement colouring her words, ‘If you aren’t careful, it might leap away.’

He nodded, and a determined expression crossed his face. He carefully peeled the last of the wrappings away and, before the frog could leap away, managed to get a firm grip on it. Still, he paid the price for it.

Jason’s hands came away covered in chocolate. ‘Ah, shit.’ He cursed as he looked at them, before searching for a napkin or a tissue. Kim pulled out her wand quickly and held it up. ‘Put your hands up.’

Without missing a beat, Jason held his hands up, sticky palms facing her, in mock surrender. ‘Please,’ he fake begged, ‘don’t shoot.’ His expression went from fake terrified to teasing.

‘Ha ha, very funny.’ She deadpanned, and Jason just laughed. ‘Well, why don’t I just leave you to be covered in chocolate all evening, then?’

Jason sobered quickly at that, muffling the last of his chuckles. ‘Okay, I’m sorry. Please help.’

Kim nodded, ‘That’s what I thought.’ She raised her wand again and took a deep breath. ‘Tergeo.’ She said firmly and watched in satisfaction as the chocolate disappeared. 

The boy looked at her in wonder, awe plain to see in his eyes and his dropped jaw. ‘What?’ She said, feeling self conscious.

‘Sorry, I just haven’t exactly seen much magic.’ He said sheepishly, still looking at his newly clean hands in amazement.

Realisation dawned on Kim. Of course the muggleborn boy hadn’t seen many spells being performed. ‘Do you want me to show you some more?’

Jason nodded vigorously. ‘Why do you know so many spells though? Aren’t we only supposed to use magic at school?’

Kim snorted before leaning forward to explain. ‘The way that the Ministry monitors underage magic is by seeing if there is any magic performed around them, right?’ When Jason nodded, she continued, ‘But if you live in a household with other wizards, do you think the Ministry will send someone to your house every time that someone in your area does a spell?’

Understanding dawned and Jason sat back, thinking about Kim’s words. ‘So basically, if you’re a pureblood or a halfblood, or if you just live around wizards, you can do whatever you like?’

‘Pretty much.’ Kim nodded and sat back in her seat. ‘Bullshit, isn’t it?’

‘Totally.’ Jason agreed. ‘And that’s the best they can come up with.’

‘Yep.’ She responded, popping the “p”. ‘But it does mean that I’ve had tutors who have shown me some spells.’

Jason nodded and gestured for her to continue. ‘Sorry, I interrupted.’ Kim shook her head to alleviate his concerns before continuing. She took her wand in her hand and pointed it at Jason’s tee shirt. 

‘May I?’ She asked, raising her eyebrows. Kim focused again, satisfied, when he nodded and she flexed her fingers slightly, gripping her wand tightly before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. 

Then, she opened them and said firmly, ‘Colovaria.’

His tee shirt turned from black to bright red and Jason looked down at himself in utter astonishment. The boy looked his new red shirt in amazement, and Kim realised how unfamiliar he truly was with magic. 

It was hard for her to comprehend, considering that she had grown up around adults casually casting spells whenever convenient. It had always been a given in her life, just as it had always been a given that she would be a wizard. 

But Jason was a muggleborn and had never seen any of this before. Honestly, Kim probably shouldn’t even know that spell, but growing up around other wizards was an advantage at times. 

‘That’s amazing.’ He breathed before turning to Kim, his eyes shining. ‘What else do you know?’

She thought for a moment before smiling and focusing again. ‘Flagrate.’ The tip of her wand seemed to ignite, fiery sparks spitting from the end of it. But there was no heat, and instead it left a trail of light as she moved her wand through the air. She managed to write out Jason’s full name before the light extinguished.

The letters that she had drawn stayed in the air for a while, hovering between them as Jason looked at them curiously. ‘Why could you make seperate letters rather than one continuous line that you could then make into letters? Why is there no join between the letters?’

‘The spell relies on concentration and will. It write what you want it to write. If you wanted to move them, for instance…’ She trailed off and flicked her wand again, and the letters in the air rearranged themselves to spell his name backwards before she moved them back to their original positions. 

‘That’s incredible.’ Jason’s voice was full of wonder, and his awe was totally sincere. Kim suddenly felt a little uncomfortable with his praise, feeling sheepish. 

‘Nah, it’s nothing.’ 

Jason scoffed disbelievingly. ‘Whatever you say.’ He kept staring at the letters in the air, burning dimly now, until they disappeared.

Suddenly, Kimberly wanted to remove herself from this situation. ‘Is it ok if I go to sleep?’ Kim said, not really caring whether or not Jason would answer. She would probably sleep regardless of his response, but figured that it was polite to ask. Jason nodded, so she brought out her wand and cast one last spell to darken the compartment. 

This spell was one of her most used, and she was definitely a fan of it. It certainly helped when the sun streamed through her window in the early mornings, as it had a bad habit of doing.  
Jason still looked a little amazed, but he was beginning to adjust to it all, it seemed.

She laughed as she caught his eye, slightly awkwardly. ‘You’ll learn way cooler things at Hogwarts. Wake me up in enough time to get my stuff.’

He nodded, still looking at the shadows, curious and impressed. His mouth hung slightly open, his blue eyes wide with wonder. Kim smiled at his expression before turning in her seat to be more comfortable.

Kim slipped into sleep pretty easily, despite the stress that pulled at her and ached in her chest. The window was cool on her skin and Jason was quiet now that she was trying to sleep. All in all, it was a calm enough environment and she was more tired than she had realised. Seconds later, she was asleep.

\--

‘Hey, uh, Kim.’ Jason’s soft voice suddenly woke her and she opened her eyes to him standing over her, shaking her shoulder. ‘Woah.’ He stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender when she shot up out of her seat. ‘I just wanted to let you know that we are just about to get off the train.’

‘Oh.’ Kim relaxed a little at his words and took her hand, which she hadn’t even realised had shot to her wand, out of her pocket.

‘Dude, chill.’ Jason laughed, before moving to reach his trunk down from the luggage rack. He grabbed Kimberly’s whilst he was there and she nodded her thanks to him. 

Then, they were being ushered off of the train, and moved over to where a man stood, shorter than most of the students around him. ‘First years!’ He called, barely audible above the chatter and clamour on the train platform, but Kim and Jason managed to fight their way through the crowd over to him. 

The man was short, with glasses perched on the end of his nose. He wore a nervous expression, and his robes were a deep red colour. ‘Okay, good, I assume you’re some of the new first years?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Jason nodded and the Professor smiled at him, still looking stressed. 

‘I’m Professor Alphonsus, but most of the students just call me Professor Alpha. Can you please make your way to the rest of the first years off to the side over there and then we can make our way to the castle once everyone is here.’

The two of them nodded and set off, dragging their trunks behind them. There was a small cluster of first years at the back of the platform, most of them looking a little worried and nervous. For a second, Kim found herself thanking whatever higher power was out there that meant that she had started talking to Jason on the train. Most of these kids felt out of place and uncomfortable, but thanks to Jason, she didn’t feel so nervous. 

Suddenly, someone yelled at her, ‘Hey, watch where you’re going!’ and Kim whirled around, confused. Next to her stood a tiny girl, glaring at her harshly. ‘You ran over my foot.’ Her dark eyes glinted angrily, and she looked like she wanted to punch Kim in the face.

Kim blinked at the shorter girl in surprise, and her silence only made the other girl’s scowl deepen. ‘Oh. Uh, sorry.’ She offered eventually.

‘Pff. Whatever.’ The girl scoffed and moved away from Kim, dragging another boy by the sleeve of his robe. The boy sent an apologetic look back over his shoulder before the two of them disappeared in the crowd of students, though for a couple of seconds, Kim thought she could still hear the girl grumbling as they left.

‘Woah.’ Kim remarked, rolling her eyes at Jason as she turned back around and laughing when he snorted in amusement.

‘Nice work, Kim.’ He fake-congratulated her, eyes twinkling with amusement.

‘How was that even my fault?’ She grumbled, shoving Jason with her elbow when he laughed. 

Before they could bicker for much longer, Professor Alpha came back over, still looking harried and stressed. ‘Alright, is everyone here and ready?’ He called, and the group of first years stared back at him. ‘Whatever.’ He mumbled. ‘Come on, then!’

And then he was off, pushing through the last remaining older students and leading them up the path. ‘Where are we going?’ Jason asked Kim. 

‘First years go across the lake. I think they like to show off the castle.’ Kim responded, rolling her eyes; the wizarding world was all about showing off to everyone else.

‘Huh.’ Jason seemed to think about her words for a moment, before shrugging and continuing to follow the kids in front of them. The path was a little step and winding, but eventually they got to the bank of the lake.

The water stretched out beyond them, almost impossibly dark in the evening light. All that she could see was her own watery reflection, like the lake was more of a mirror than anything else. ‘Four to a boat!’ Alpha called, before ushering students into the rickety looking wooden boats shored up on the bank. Most of the wood seemed to be rotting away, or breaking apart in places. 

Kim looked doubtfully at the sad wooden structures in front of her. Considering this school was a fucking castle, you would think that the transport would be better quality. Instead, the boats looked like they would sink the second that they were out of the water, even without any students in them.

‘Are those things actually safe?’ Someone called out, but their question wasn’t answered, which honestly didn’t boost Kim’s confidence. 

‘Two Galleons says we sink or fall apart before we reach the castle.’ Jason muttered under his breath, looking doubtfully at the boat before him. 

‘That’s a waste of Galleons.’ Kim responded, smiling wryly. She wasn’t looking forward to this little trip any more than he was - she wasn’t exactly in the mood to get cold and wet this chilly September evening, and it looked more than likely to happen.

Once they had set off though, the little boats seemed more sturdy than anyone had given them credit for. They glided through the water almost silently, creating very little waves in the glassy surface of the lake as well. 

‘Magic.’ Kim explained simply when she caught sight of Jason’s confused and mystified expression. He nodded, sighing deeply, before focusing on the castle coming up ahead of them.

‘I gotta say, it’s an impressive way to first see the school.’ He said, raising an eyebrow. 

‘I guess, but it all stems from wizards’ obsession with austerity, remember that.’

Jason quirked an eyebrow and turned away from the castle. ‘You don’t have to ruin everything, Hart.’

‘Yes, I do, Scott.’ She retorted, smirking. ‘Especially for you.’

He mock laughed before turning away from her. The other two kids in their boat looked at them a little worriedly before obviously resolving to just let them be. Kim internally laughed at this. 

A couple of boats ahead of them, she began to hear people yelling. They sounded panicked and worried. ‘What the hell is going on?’ She asked, finally sitting up from her slouched position. 

‘I’ve got no idea.’ Jason frowned. Suddenly, there came a massive splash, exactly the type of sound that an 11 year old falling into lake water would make. 

She sighed and turned back to Jason. ‘Of course someone fell in.’ She wanted to laugh, but figured that wouldn’t be exactly appropriate. ‘Won’t be too much longer now till we reach the castle.’ He nodded and continued looking around in wonder. ‘You look excited.’ She remarked dryly.

‘How could I not be?’ He replied. ‘It’s literal magic.’

‘Huh. True, I guess.’ Kim shrugged, unbothered.

Alpha’s voice came out of the mist up ahead. ‘Approaching the bank now, be careful everyone!’ His last words were pointed, and she felt like they were probably only a little directed at whoever it was that ended up taking a swim in the lake water. 

Eventually, their boat reached the sandy bank of the lake, and they all looked up at the looming castle. Nerves began to properly erupt in her stomach now, like butterflies had made a nest there and were just absolutely going for it in her stomach.

Professor Alpha cleared his throat nervously as he stood on the steps in front of the gathered first years. ‘The start-of-term banquet will begin in just a minute, but before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, there will be the Sorting Ceremony, and you will be placed into your houses. The Sorting is a very important tradition because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.’

Kim knew all of this already, but the addressing of the coming Sorting Ceremony only made her feel more nervous. Nausea hit her in waves, and, in her pockets, her hands clenched into white knuckled fists.

‘You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.’ Professor Alpha continued explaining. ‘However, of course, if your prefects and Head of House allow it, you may allow students of other houses into your common room in order to socialise, as long as all students have returned to their own houses by 8:30. Additionally, during all meals except for special feasts, you are allowed to sit where you like. Special meals must have you sat at your own house’s table’

The Professor then launched into a brief explanation of each of the houses, but Kim tuned him out now. She already knew about the houses, and she didn’t need to hear about them again. 

‘The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.’ Kim gulped at Alpha’s words. ‘Please go in now, all of you.’

The first years shuffled into the Great Hall as a big, sheepish looking, group. Kim blushed slightly when she caught sight of some of her relatives at the Ravenclaw table, who smiled at her as she passed. 

‘Cousins of yours?’ Jason asked, noting the greetings. Evidently he remembered that she was an only child, but with a big extended family.

Suddenly, a lump formed in her throat, and it made it hard to breathe or swallow. So Kim just nodded, before turning away and focusing on the Hat in front of the whole Hall. The Sorting Hat was silent and motionless on the lopsided and tilting stool that had been placed in front of the gathered students of Hogwarts. 

The first years all thrummed with nervous energy, some not knowing what to expect when it came to the Hat, and those who did were still worried about their House. After all, this was the very first thing that happened to them at Hogwarts, and would likely shape their time at the school.

One’s house had a massive impact on everything at Hogwarts - how others viewed you, who you were more likely to spend time with, your lesson timetable. It was also reliant on what the Hat decided and the first years were faced with that monumental moment and were understandably nervous about it.

Professor Zordon, a tall and imposing man in his dark robes, stood up and surveyed the group of first years. He didn’t say anything, instead picking up the scroll of parchment from next to the Hat and clearing his throat. ‘Jemima Ailington.’

A small blonde girl made her way shyly to the front of the group and blushed as the Hat was placed on her head. 

Tuning out the girl’s Sorting, Kim tried to stand as still as possible, and exude some sort of impression of being calm and collected, though she was actually just the opposite. Nerves and anticipation raged inside of her, making her stomach churn and ache. She longed to bolt from the group, but she held her head high and her back straight like she had always be taught to. 

‘You ready?’ Jason asked her, maybe able to see the nerves on her face. He didn’t look concerned though, so maybe he didn’t know just how on edge she was.

‘Sure.’ She said, trying to act flippant and confident. ‘You?’

He just nodded, eyebrows drawn together in a frown that made his forehead wrinkle and his eyes narrow. His fists were clenched at his side, and Kim was struck with a sudden sort of sympathy for the boy. Jason had no idea what to actually expect from Hogwarts - reading books about the school could only bring one so far. Besides, this was pretty much his first experience of the wizarding world - of course he was anxious.

‘You’re nervous.’ She stated, leaning her head back and trying to act as calm as she could. Maybe he would chill if he thought she wasn’t worried about him.

‘How could you tell?’ Jason sort of laughed, a nervous sound that escaped him in a short and sharp huff of breath. 

‘It’s practically written across your forehead.’ She remarked dryly, her voice flat. Jason flushed, his cheeks growing red. 

He rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly as he replied, his eyes on the floor as opposed to Kim’s face. ‘Yeah, well, I keep imagining that the Hat is going to say I don’t belong here.’

In all honesty, out of everything that she thought Jason would say, that wasn’t one of them. Every conversation with him seemed to remind her that just because this was the world that she had grown up in didn’t mean that others would be as sure of their place as she was. Kim had never doubted that she would be a part of the wizarding world, not once, and it was hard to put herself in Jason’s shoes.

‘I keep telling myself that this isn’t real, that I’m gonna wake up and I’ll be at home with my drunk dad and my little sister.’ He continued, voice low. Kim let that comment lie, knowing that now wasn’t the time to go into the fact that his father was apparently a drunk. That could be talked about later. ‘I want to be a wizard so bad, to be a part of this world, but what if the Hat says there has been a mistake and sends me home, or something?’

Jason’s voice was soft with fear and the words sounded difficult to get out. Kim didn’t really know what to say - it was obvious that he needed comfort, but she wasn’t exactly the world’s softest person. Kim was not exactly someone who would be people’s first choice in a situation like this.

‘Look, Jason. If you got your letter from Hogwarts, there’s no mistake. You’re a wizard and you deserve to be here. The Hat won’t tell you any different. It will just tell you where in this school you belong, and isn’t that more confirmation than anything that you should be here?’ Kim reasoned with him, trying to make him see that there was no logical reason to be afraid now. 

Jason seemed to think about it for a second, before the doubt cleared from his eyes and he managed to look at Kim directly instead of staring at the stone floor of the castle’s Great Hall.

‘Maybe you’re right.’ Jason’s words were hesitant but he didn’t look as unsure of himself as he did before. 

‘Of course I’m right.’ She replied, before turning away, leaving Jason to mull over her words and how he felt. She caught the eye of another girl within the crowd of first years. It was the same girl from earlier - on the platform. The one who had shouted at her and then stormed off. It looked like she was still pissed off, to be honest, though Kim wasn’t sure how accidentally running over her foot was really that much of a big deal.

The other girl was shorter than her, and her robes seemed a little too big for her. The sleeves had been rolled up several times. She was looking at her with a sort of hard glint in her eyes, eyebrows drawn and expression in a frown. Her facial expression combined with the effect of her too-big robes was almost comical and made it hard to take the other girl seriously. Kim stared back, not backing down.

Eventually, the other girl turned around, facing back to the front. Kim smirked, a rush of pride within in. Then she frowned and wondered why she gave so much of a fuck about winning that little staring contest.

The Sorting Hat had long since begun calling houses, and Kim watched as the other girl stepped forward when Professor Zordon called out for “Trinity Gomez”. She watched carefully as the girl took a seat and fixed everyone in the room with the same kind of hard glare that she had directed at Kim herself.

Trinity Gomez didn’t stay sat for very long, though she began to scowl more and more at the Hat’s words as her sorting continued. Then, the Hat called out, ‘Hufflepuff!’ and the girl got to her feet amid the applause and cheers of the yellow and black table and scattered clapping from other tables as well. 

Kim had to admit that she was a little surprised by that. Judging from the girl’s attitude, she had her pegged as a Slytherin, but she hadn’t exactly had an in depth discussion with the girl, so who was she to say?

She suddenly realised that she was probably next, seeing as Gomez and Hart were very close together alphabetically. Kimberly felt herself begin to grow even more anxious, but she shoved it down just as she always did.

‘You ready to start your new life in Ravenclaw?’ Jason teasingly whispered, leaning over to her. She nodded, her jaw set. She felt like if she opened her mouth, all that would come up was some sort of scream mixed with a groan. She couldn’t do this. 

‘Kimberly Hart!’ The name echoed around the stone walls of the Great Hall once Zordon had announced it. She gulped slightly, nerves coursing through her. But she stepped forward, the crowd of first years around her parting slightly as she made her way towards the front. 

She walked up the steps with her head held high and her hands still at her side. She hoped that her expression concealed just how nervous she really way. 

The stool creaked slightly under her weight, the legs slightly wonky. Just before Professor Zordon could place the Sorting Hat on her head, she managed to catch sight of some of the students sat at the Ravenclaw table. 

They were all watching her with expectant expressions - they had heard her last name and thought they knew what was coming. Among the faces, she saw a couple of her cousins, all smiling proudly at her. 

Kim tried to keep her face expressionless but her heart sunk in her chest at their faces. She had thought that she was prepared for this, but nerves and doubt raged in her and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She wasn’t ready to be exposed to her family and watch their shock at realising she wasn’t the person that she was supposed to be. 

The Hat’s rim dipped just into her eyes, so part of the world around her was obscured from view. Kim swallowed deeply and tried to stop thinking about the blue and bronze table but nausea still swirled in her stomach. ‘Ah, a Hart.’ The Hat’s voice was deeper than she had thought it would be, especially when it was loud in her ears. 

She knew that no one else could hear the words that the Hat told her, but that didn’t stop her watching at the expressions of everyone else in the room with worry churning in her stomach.

‘Yeah, a Hart.’ Her words were slightly defiant even though they were spoken beneath her breath. Kim suddenly felt angry. She shouldn’t have to feel sick at the prospect of being recognised as who she is, she shouldn’t feel so pressured by her family that she can’t be the person that she really is.

‘Oh, looks like you’re a little feistier than the others.’ Surprise seemed to colour the Hat’s tone, but she took a deep breath. 

She had to stay calm. There was still a chance that she would be a Ravenclaw, that her family was right about who she was all along. Kim willfully tried to ignore the doubt in her head. ‘No I’m not.’

‘Yes, you are, little Hart. Trust me, I can see into your mind.’ The Hat chuckled dryly before moving on, despite the way that butterflies made of pure anxiety exploded in her stomach. If the Hat was saying that she was different from her family this soon into the Sorting, she was really screwed. ‘You’re just as smart though.’

Kim allowed herself a sigh of relief, thinking that maybe this meant she might be a Ravenclaw anyway, no matter the differences between her and the rest of her family. 

‘Oh, so it’s that you want.’ The Hat mused, evidently seeing her thoughts. 

‘Yes.’ She dared to say, almost challenging the Hat. 

‘Well, I hate to say it, little Hart, but you don’t quite seem the Ravenclaw type. Maybe a Gryffindor?’

‘I don’t think you understand, Hat. I have to be a Ravenclaw.’ She hissed, her fingers beginning to curl into fists subconsciously. 

Despite her words and her insistent tone, the Hat simply laughed. ‘Certainly some Gryffindor stubbornness in there.’ She scowled, and tried to breathe deeply. It wouldn’t do to get angry and irrational - even if it was just for the sake of saving face, she needed to stay calm. ‘But there’s more.’ The Hat continued, sounding a little interested.

‘Look, please just put me in Ravenclaw.’ Kim tried not to plead. She tried to stay in control, but her hands were sweaty and curling into fists with her frustration, and she felt like everything was falling apart around her. 

‘But you wouldn’t belong there.’ The Hat sounded confused, like her request didn’t make sense. But the true blow was the matter of fact way in which the Hat told her that she simply wasn’t a Ravenclaw - and she never would be. 

All of her life, she had worked to live up to the expectations of her parents, with the worry of not being who they wanted hanging over her for so long. And now, it was all worthless. She wasn’t the Kimberly that her parents wanted her to be.

‘In fact,’ The Hat continued, as Kimberly scrambled to stop her face from falling and her hands from shaking, ‘I think that I know exactly where you would belong.’

‘What, Gryffindor?’ The disdain that creeped into her voice was probably unjustified - all things considered, Gryffindor was a fine house, but it simply wasn’t the one that she wanted. Anger raged in her and her fingernails dug into her palms as she tried to stay calm.

‘No.’ The Hat’s answer surprised Kim, and she waited for it to tell her where she was being sorted. ‘It’s true that you’re stubborn and headstrong, like a Gryffindor. But you are also smart and value knowledge, like a Ravenclaw. You’re also loyal like a Hufflepuff would be.’

Kim frowned. ‘I don’t understand. If I display the traits of a Ravenclaw, just put me in that house!’

The Hat hummed, voice low, before answering. ‘Yes, but they aren’t the traits that dictate who you are as a person. You are smart but you use it to benefit yourself and those around you. You value knowledge because it’s helpful to you and powerful in situations, not because you enjoy knowing things. You’re trying so hard to stay composed right now because you understand the importance of presenting someone who is calm and in control.’

‘Well, yeah.’ Kim still didn’t understand what the Hat was talking about. ‘Of course I know that’s important.’

The Hat chuckled in her ear. ‘You still don’t understand, do you? Let me ask you a question, and then I’ll show you why your answer makes you who you are.’

‘Okay?’

‘What do you want out of life?’

Kim was thrown by the question for a second. What the fuck was she supposed to say to that? A couple seconds passed as she considered, and she took a deep breath before she replied. ‘I want to succeed. I want to be the best at what I do and live the best life I can with people I care about.’

‘So you strive for excellence?’ Amusement coloured the Hat’s voice, and Kim knew that she was being toyed with now.

She frowned as she responded. ‘Of course.’

‘See, that’s a very fundamentally Slytherin thing to say.’ The Hat’s tone was pointed and almost victorious.

Kim felt her heart begin to sink as she understood what the Hat was getting at. ‘You mean that the reason I have traits of the other houses is because of my Slytherin traits.’

It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Still, the Hat replied. ‘Yes. Now you’ve got it. You’re ambitious and smart but you’re also cunning. It’s true that you have Hufflepuff loyalty and Ravenclaw smarts and Gryffindor stubbornness and courage, but none of those things are the core of you. You don’t fit right in any of those houses, but there is one where you fit perfectly. That’s why it has to be…’

Suddenly, the Hat boomed out for the whole Great Hall to hear, ‘Slytherin!’

Kim took a deep breath as she rose unsteadily to her feet. The conversation with the Hat had kind of clarified everything for her, and she had realised why pleasing her parents by being in Ravenclaw wouldn’t have made her happy after all. Still, the prospect of facing her family after being sorted into Slytherin wasn’t exactly something she was looking forward to. 

Before she took the Hat off of her head, she muttered beneath her breath, ‘You’ve got a lot of fucking sass, you know, for a fucking hat.’

With shaking hands, she lifted the Hat off of her head and handed it back to Professor Zordon, before turning to the table seating students wearing the trademark Slytherin green and silver ties. The Ravenclaw table was silent as she walked past, and she caught sight of a couple of her cousins looking at her in astonishment. 

Kim stared straight ahead of her and didn’t look at them. She had known that this would probably happen, in all honesty. She had prepared for this, but it still struck her like a blow across the chest, knocking all of the breath out of her. Maybe she had a little more hope than she should have had.

The Slytherins sitting on the edge of the bench moved up slightly so that she could take a seat. Nodding her thanks, Kim sat next to the new sorted Slytherins, some of them looking slightly nervous, but most seeming confident enough. 

Kim had been raised in the wizarding world, surrounded by stories and tales of Hogwarts and the years that her parents had there - this meant that she knew exactly what Slytherin was about, and what it meant that she had been sorted into the house. 

Slytherin, to the house’s credit, had historically been a lot darker. It had been full of blood purists and prejudiced assholes, as well as people who were just plain bullies. But eventually, it was understood that having ambition didn’t mean that the students of Slytherin had to be hostile. They would always be ruthless and vicious and sharp, but they didn’t have to be evil. 

That didn’t change the way that the other houses often thought of them, though; Kim knew that they wouldn’t look at her green trimmed robes like they were becoming, like they were something to aspire to, like they were a credit to her. 

It suddenly hit her that she had been sorted into not only a house that her family didn’t want her to be in, but a house that was still considered ‘bad’. 

Slytherin was fighting an uphill battle when it came to forgiveness for the past. Kim already knew that she and her fellow students would be blamed for the sins of their predecessors within the house. 

Thanks to her childhood within Pureblood circles, Kim was familiar enough with most of the people around her. Some of them were from families that the Harts were only civil with out of duty, but most of them were alright. Gia Moran smiled sharply at her, a second year who she had met several times at different events. 

The girl often reminded her of a shark, with the flashing teeth and sharp tongue that could practically cut through flesh. Even her words were barbed.

‘Didn’t expect this, Hart?’

‘Actually, I did.’ Kim returned cooly, meeting Gia’s challenging look head on. The older girl raised an eyebrow in surprise, arching it slowly.

‘Really?’

Kim nodded before actually turning to face the other girl. She made sure that her expression was unreadable and hard as stone. ‘Yes. As much as my parents wanted me to be a Ravenclaw, I always knew I wouldn’t be.’ The words were flippant and blasé and Kim was simply praying that no one could tell how much she wished that she was sitting at the blue and bronze table right now.

Gia appraised her for a second, her eyes flashing. ‘Bet they won’t be too happy. From what I’ve gathered from our meetings, your family is pretty loyal to Ravenclaw and it’s values.’

‘Very much so.’ Kim replied dryly, trying to keep her sigh quiet. ‘I’m sure they’ll get over it eventually.’ She shrugged like she didn’t care.

Gia hummed, before turning away and engaging in conversation with another older student. Kim breathed a quick sigh of relief. She had no idea how the hell she was actually managing to bullshit this - she was a nervous wreck on the inside.

Kim looked around at the rest of the Slytherins quickly. There was Rebecca Prewett, another Pureblood she had come across before. She was vicious and cutthroat - truly the worst kind of Slytherin, and an utter stereotype at that. 

There was also Amanda Clarke, who wasn’t a Pureblood, but came from enough good wizarding blood that she was accepted in some Pureblood circles.

‘Hey Kimberly.’ Rebecca nodded at her, her face unreadable. Kim returned the greeting.

‘Hi Rebecca. Amanda.’ The other blonde girl send a sort of smile Kim’s way, but it lack all warmth.

‘Didn’t expect to see you here.’ The words were casual, but Kim knew that they were anything but, coming from someone like Rebecca. If she thought that she was cold, then Rebecca was a whole different level. She was ruthless, and the Prewett’s were exactly the kind of family that Harts wanted to be allies but not friends with.

Kim shrugged, keeping her answer vague. ‘Does that make much of a difference? I’m here now.’

Rebecca tilted her head. ‘I guess so.’ Somehow, Kim felt threatened, and she didn’t like it. But there was nothing else that she could do.

She sighed quietly, before turning away from the other girl. Looks like there wasn’t going to be much chill in the Slytherin first years. Everyone knew, even kids not at Hogwarts yet, that there was a competition in the Slytherin house about who would be the most influential and valued within the house and the year. 

Slytherins valued their alliances, and making yourself out to be someone good to be allied with was an important thing to do. It didn’t look like Rebecca was going to waste any time making genuine friends, and instead try to terrorise and manipulate everyone into following her. 

To be honest, Kim hadn’t really expected anything different from her. She had known from the first time she had spoken to Rebecca, back when they were much younger, that the other girl was a stereotypical bully through and through. It made sense that she would be the same even with other Slytherins.

Cassie Chan sent her a quick smile from next to her on the bench, one that Kim returned with a quirk of her lips. The Chan family was an influential one within the Ministry, and one that had always been close with the Harts. They had many of the same values, and were not a Slytherin pedigree family. The Chans were like the total opposites of the Prewett family; Cassie was likely to be an ally within Slytherin for Kim.

Kim supposed that was one upside she could tell her parents about her sorting - she could now get much closer with more of the children of some of the most influential people within wizarding Britain. Most politicians and business figures were Slytherins and had Slytherin families as ambition was pretty necessary in those fields. 

But there were of course exceptions - for example, Ryan Mitchell sat scowling at the rest of the table, the younger brother of third year Dana Mitchell, who was a Gryffindor, just like their father. Ryan seemed to be a bit of black sheep in his red and gold family, but that didn’t concern Kim.

‘Hey Cassie.’ Kim offered, letting herself actually smile at the other girl. Cassie was a first year, just like her, and only be sorted a couple of people before Kim herself. The girl had always been good to talk to at events she had attended in the past, and hopefully Hogwarts would be just the same. 

Cassie nodded and smiled back. ‘Hey Kim. Good to have you.’ 

She ducked her head and had to hide her smile and blush at the other girl’s words. Cassie was the first person to act like her sorting was good instead of just a surprise. 

But that was the type of person that Cassie was. It wasn’t surprising that she was a Slytherin, because she was also ambitious and tough, but there was more than one type of Slytherin student, Kim mused.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here - as long as she ignored the Rebeccas of the house. After all, this was where the Sorting Hat said that she would fit. Maybe it would just take a little time.

‘You excited to finally be at Hogwarts?’ 

‘Yeah.’ Cassie laughed as she answered. ‘I mean, we Purebloods have been waiting for this our whole lives.’

‘True.’ Kim nodded. 

‘I sometimes envy the muggleborns.’ Cassie said chuckling as she gestured at some of the first years looking in wonder at the Hall, ‘They come into this world all excited and surprised and I can imagine it’s all pretty, well, magical.’

Kim opened her mouth to agree with Cassie, but then reconsidered her words. ‘I get what you mean, but I guess they are all also kinda scared.’ Cassie motioned for her to continue, and Kim thought back to Jason’s hesitancy, his fear that this was all some sort of trick. 

‘Well, I mean, if I grew up knowing nothing about magic, and then was told that I was supposed to be a wizard, I would be pretty skeptical. I wouldn’t be sure of my place in the magical world, and I would constantly think that any mistake would end up in me losing any sort of magic I had.’

Cassie looked surprised, but Kim had expected that. After all, it wasn’t really something she had considered either until she had met Jason and seen how scared of it all he was. ‘I guess that’s a good point, Hart.’

Kim nodded, and tried to ignore the way that Cassie looked at - like she was something different. 

Actually, now that she thought about Jason, she was pretty sure that his sorting must be approaching. She turned back to the crowd of first years and the Sorting Hat, which she had been ignoring since taking a seat at the Slytherin table. 

Professor Zordon was still calling names and he had reached the R’s. Jason’s last name was Scott, so he had to be soon. 

Sure enough, the next name that Zordon called was his, and Kim watched her new sort of friend carefully as he walked up the steps unsteadily. His nerves were plain to see on his face as he looked at out at the rest of the hall. For a second, Jason made eye contact with her, and Kim just nodded firmly. 

After that, Jason sat a little straighter and tried to look a little more in control. He still didn’t exude the quiet, unshakeable confidence that many of the Purebloods, and certainly a lot of the Slytherins, did but as long as he was alright, it would be fine. 

Kim watched as he conversed with the Hat, his face morphing into a frown every now and then before it finally bloomed with understanding. Looks like Jason learned some shit about himself, Kim thought to herself, holding back a smirk. 

Finally, the Hat called out Gryffindor, and Kimberly surprised the rest of the Slytherins by clapping as Jason made his way off the stool and over to the table of students decked out in red and gold. Gryffindor was the rival of her house and many of the students didn’t understand why Kim was applauding for Jason. 

But Kim had already learned that just because you are sorted into a house that fits you as a person, doesn’t mean that the other houses weren’t worth befriending. Jason had been nice on the train, and he had been a Gryffindor then even if he didn’t have the official Lion status. He was still a friend, if that was what he was. 

‘What are you doing?’ Rebecca hissed, disdain obvious on her face. ‘He’s a Gryffindor.’

‘And a muggleborn, I’m pretty sure.’ Gia added, looking at Kim with an unreadable expression. It was easy to feel uncomfortable when Gia looked at you like that, Kim noted.

‘He’s a friend.’ Kim shrugged and explained simply. Still, many of the other Slytherins looked at her a little confused and warily. For a second, regret flashed through her and she wondered if she had made the right choice in applauding for Jason. 

But then she looked up and caught Jason’s eye and saw how he practically shone with happiness and looked gratefully at her. Then she knew that it was the right thing to do. A remarkably noble act for a Slytherin, Kim laughed to herself. 

Professor Zordon put down the Sorting Hat as the last student to be sorted moved to their new house. He walked over to the lectern, and surveyed his students with a calculating look. 

‘Welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts, and to our new first years, welcome to the next seven years of your lives.’

‘Oof.’ Kim muttered under her breath to the amusement of Cassie. The other girl laughed and shushed Kim, nudging her with her shoulder.

Professor Zordon kept speaking. ‘I will continue with the announcements after the feast. For now, dig in.’

As he finished speaking, food appeared on the table before them. She heard a couple sounds of surprise from around the Hall, but pretty much everyone just reached for spoons and plates and bowls.

‘So, Kim,’ Cassie began, ‘Ready for “the beginning of our wizarding lives”?’

‘Oh, God.’ Kim groaned and Cassie laughed. ‘You sound just like my mum.’

Cassie snorted, wiping some gravy off of her face, ‘Yeah, I know. Mine’s been acting like since this time last year.’

‘Oh, man, that’s so bad.’

Cassie shrugged. ‘She’s just excited for me. She’ll be happy I’m in Slytherin though.’

Kim felt her heart lurch in her chest, but she pretended not to feel it. Instead, she painted on a fake smile which would, hopefully, convince Cassie that she was fine. ‘That’s good. What house was she?’

‘Ravenclaw. But my dad was a Slytherin.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ She nodded. ‘I remember now.’

‘Hey, are your folks gonna be ok about you not being in Ravenclaw?’ Cassie’s eyebrows were drawn together, creating a little furrow of worry in the middle of her forehead.

Kim sighed. ‘Guess they’ll have to be.’ She forced a smile, and returned to the food on her plate. ‘Hey, this feast shit isn’t so bad.’

‘Yeah,’ Cassie laughed, ‘Hogwarts has some pretty good house elves.’

‘To be honest, I envy the Hufflepuffs with their common room being right next to the kitchens.’ Kim joked, and she smiled when the other girl laughed. 

‘Yeah, I get what you mean.’

The rest of the meal passed with similar conversation between the two of them, whilst both of them acknowledged other acquaintances and old family friends, but made it clear that they were more focused on just talking to each other. 

In all honesty, Kim was kind of relieved - she had been a little concerned about being in Slytherin with people she didn’t like. If she was going to be in a different house to the one that her family wanted, she figured that the company should make it worth it. Cassie was a relief. 

Once the feast was over and Professor Zordon had made his speech, all of the students stood up to go. She caught a glimpse of a couple of her cousins making their way towards her, and immediately panic spiked in her stomach. 

‘Yeah, fuck that.’ She muttered, before turning the other way and trying to lose herself in the crowd of Slytherins. The prefects lead them all the way to the dungeons, and she was pretty sure that none of her family members would be willing to wait outside the common room all evening, so she was safe once they entered Slytherin territory.

The rumours were true that the dungeons were a little cold, but the school had certainly made up for that. Green and silver blankets were draped over black armchairs and sofas. Tables littered the edges of the room and a massive fireplace took up most of the space of one of the walls. 

It was a little dark, but the combined effect of the decor and the fire made it seem pretty homely in all honesty. It definitely didn’t seem like a bad place to spend her time in the coming years. 

‘Okay, so just to get this out there now, we have designated times for student of other houses to be in Slytherin areas.’ The prefect called out. ‘Monday and Wednesday are the only days during the week where other students are allowed here whilst Friday and the rest of the weekend are also when the common room will be open to them.’ Then, he fixed them all with a hard stare

‘Try and get people in here on a Thursday or a Tuesday and we’ll make sure the rules are changed so people are never allowed to come here.’ It wasn’t even a veiled threat, it was pretty obvious that no one should try and break the rules. 

‘Anyway, girl’s dorms are to the right and boy’s are to the left. Don’t sneak into each other’s rooms - the castle won’t let you. Breakfast is at 7:30.’ And, with that, the older boy spun on his heel and marched away. 

It wasn’t really late enough for them to want to go to bed, first years as they were, but Kim felt awkward hanging around in the big group. She may as well get a start on making herself comfortable. So, she climbed the stairs and started looking for her dorm.

Eventually, she found the room, and saw that her trunk had already been brought up and placed onto her bed. She began to unpack, making sure that her uniform was set out for the following morning. Cassie followed her into the room.

‘Nice plan.’

‘Yeah, no point wasting time, I guess.’

Cassie began following suit, but then turned to Kim. ‘Hey, so, what’s up with you and that Gryffindor boy? The one you clapped for?’

Kim held back a sigh. She seriously couldn’t even get through an evening without facing that inevitable question? ‘That’s Jason. We met on the train. He’s actually pretty chill.’

Cassie shrugged. ‘Sure.’ Then, the other girl turned back to folding her shirts. 

She blanched and stared at Cassie, more than a little taken aback. ‘Wait, that’s it?’

‘Yeah, I mean, I don’t really buy into the whole house rivalry thing, so it’s chill.’ Cassie explained, and Kim appraised her like she was seeing the other girl in a new light. 

‘Damn, I’m glad you’re in my house.’ She commented, chuckling slightly. 

‘Huh, really?’

‘Yeah, I mean, I was actually kind of worried about being in Slytherin, but you’re definitely an upside to being in this house.’ Kim said, running a hand through her hair. 

‘Careful Hart, don’t get too flirty on the first goddamn day.’ Cassie winked sarcastically, and the two of them dissolved into laughter. 

She was really shit at the whole being cold thing with people that she actually liked. Kim was a little taken aback that she had actually found two kids that she genuinely liked already, and it definitely through a spanner in the works when it came to her plans of being detached and focused on academics. 

But for now she focused on unpacking and settling into her dorm, before pulling out a book and settling down for the night, deciding to stay in her warm bed rather than go socialise with the rest of her house. 

It wasn’t long until she was asleep, Cassie also snoring in the bed next to hers, green curtains drawn tightly around both of their beds.

\--

Her first day at Hogwarts dawned early, with it still being early enough in September for the days to be long. The sun glared through the window of the dorm straight into her eyes through an unfortunate crack in the bed curtains, so her day was already off to a bad start. 

Kim blinked awake, scowling at the brightness before turning back over. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with this, but the rest of the girls in her dorm were getting up, and with a resigned sigh, she threw the covers off of her and got out of bed as well. 

The castle was cold, the slabs of stone flooring freezing on her bare feet. She hissed as she scrambled to put socks on and the rest of her uniform, to the amusement of some of the other girls in the dorm. 

She was 100% sure that she heard Rebecca snickering under her breath, but Kim just rolled her eyes and moved away, going to the bathroom. 

Kim took a deep breath as she looked in the mirror, straightening her school shirt to make sure it wasn’t creased, and was tucked into her skirt properly. Her Slytherin tie hung around her neck, as of yet undone, and for a second, Kim studied the colours. 

She never thought that she would start her first day at Hogwarts- the first day of the rest of her life, really - wearing green and silver. Kim sighed as she knotted the tie and moved out of the bathroom. 

It looked like this was just something that she would have to accept, because she had never heard of the dortin gHat allowing someone to move house. Besides, the Hat’s explanation about why she belonged in Slytherin yesterday had made sense, it just simply wasn’t something that she had envisaged.

Kim had always thought that she might not end up in Ravenclaw, but she thought that she would be a Gryffindor before she was sorted into Slytherin. Nevertheless, this was where she was now. 

‘Ready to go?’ Cassie’s voice sounded from behind her, and she swung around to the other girl dressed and prepared. ‘I’m hungry.’

‘What time is it?’ 

The other girl glanced at her watch before replying. ‘It’s 7:35, so breakfast is starting. Classes don’t start until 8. Did you get your timetable?’ 

In lieu of an answer, Kim pulled out a folded sheet of paper from her robes pocket. 

‘Cool. Can we go now?’

‘Damn, you really are hungry.’ Kim teased as they walked out of the dorms and down to the common room. A couple of the older students were milling around, but she assumed that most of the house was already down at breakfast. The halls were scattered with other students as they made their way from the dungeons to the Great Hall. 

‘I gotta say, I don’t love having to walk through so many of the coldest hallways in the whole castle just because we are in the dungeons.’ Cassie grumbled, pulling her robes tighter around herself. 

‘I get what you mean.’ Kim nodded her agreement. ‘I mean, the dorms and the common room are pretty warm, especially considering that we are in the dungeons, but the hallways round here are freezing.’

Cassie looked at her despondent, ‘You know it’s just going to get worse as the weather gets colder?’ 

Kim nodded miserably. ‘Let’s just focus on getting to the Great Hall without getting lost for now.’

‘Fair point.’

To their credit, it didn’t take them long to find the Great Hall, though every corridor and hallway looked identical to the last, and none of the paintings were much help with directions. 

However, to the castle’s credit, the Great Hall was massive and the biggest room in the whole school. They would have had to find it at some point, and it would have been worrying if they couldn’t. 

The house tables had descended into chaos by the time that they arrived, a mixture of students at every table. The school had certainly improved it’s house unity since the days were her parents were students, Kim mused. Back then, it had all been about thinking your house was the best, and it was almost nationalistic in a way. Your house was supposed to be your life. That partly explained why they had been so set on her being a Ravenclaw. 

But now, everyone seemed a lot more chill. Most people just wanted to sit with their friends anyway, and when all time was spent with your house, that could be hard. 

‘Hey, can we find Jason?’ Kim asked, pulling at Cassie’s sleeve. 

‘Your Gryffindor friend?’ She asked, and when Kim nodded, she pointed behind her. ‘I think he’s already found us.’

Kim turned around to see that Jason was sat at the end of what was officially the Gryffindor table, watching them very unsubtly to see if Kim would sit with him. When she turned around and looked at him, she watched as he blushed and ducked his head. 

‘Come on,’ she said to Cassie, ‘you’ll love him.’

‘Uh huh.’ The other girl seemed unconvinced, but didn’t resist as Kim tugged her by the robe sleeve over to Jason. 

The boy sent the two of them a shining smile as they took a seat at the table, food still piled on the plates in the middle of the table. ‘Hey Kim.’

‘Hey Jason. This is Cassie Chan.’ The other girl sent a little sarcastic wave as she grabbed a slice of toast and the jam. ‘She’s in Slytherin with me.’

‘Yeah, I gathered.’ He said dryly, smirking at Kim.

‘Ooh, he’s funny.’ Cassie seemed surprised, shoving Kim and smiling at Jason from across the table. ‘You’re right, I do like him.’

Jason blushed, and seemed unsure of what to say, so Kim just muttered a quiet ‘Shut up,’ to Cassie before turning back to the boy. ‘So, how was the first night in the wizarding world?’

‘Weird.’ He made a face. ‘But not because of magic. Mainly because one of the boys in my dorm snores really loudly and another talks in his sleep. All night.’

She had to stifle a chuckle at his expression. ‘Looks like it’s going to be a great seven years.’ She teased, reaching for the mug of milk. 

Jason’s hand shot out to grab her arm, and an expression of abject horror overtook his face. ‘Are you trying to tell me that I have to be in the same room as them for all seven years?’

‘I think so.’ She said, trying her hardest not to smile. 

He groaned as he let go of Kim’s arm and buried his head in his hands instead. ‘You look like you’re gonna cry,’ remarked Cassie bluntly. 

‘I think I might.’ He responded, his voice muffled from where he was hiding in his own hands. 

‘Anyway, what class do you have first?’ Kim moved on to a new subject, seeing at how annoyed Jason was with his dormmates. 

He sat up straight and fished around in his pocket for a second before bringing out his schedule, already crumpled and a little torn. ‘Uh, Transfiguration.’

‘With the Ravenclaws, I assume?’

‘Yeah, are you with the Hufflepuffs for your first lesson?’ 

Kim nodded in response, not even having to check her timetable as she responded. ‘We have Potions.’

‘Let me know how it goes.’

‘Will do.’ She drained her glass of orange juice. ‘Hey, are students from other houses allowed into Gryffindor common room?’

‘Yeah, whenever you want. The password is virtus. Apparently, it’s Latin for courage.’

Cassie rolled her eyes and Kim stifled a laugh. ‘How Gryffindor.’

‘I know, right? I mean, they could chill a little.’ Jason agreed, before standing up. ‘Anyway, I gotta grab my stuff. I’ll see you later?’

Kim nodded as both her and Cassie moved to leave as well. ‘Bye, Jase.’

‘Wow, day two of our friendship and we’ve already moved onto nicknames.’ He teased lightly. ‘See you, Hart.’

She rolled her eyes at him and flipped him off for good measure. ‘Fuck off, Scott.’ He just winked at her and smirked. 

There came the faint sound of a prefect yelling, ‘Language!’ from down the table, and the three of them laughed. 

Once Cassie and Kim had grabbed their bags and all the books they would need until lunch, they headed to Potions class. 

‘That’s one good side.’ Kim pointed out. ‘We have the easiest route the the first class every Monday.’

‘And after lunch on Tuesdays, if we go back to the common room then.’ 

The two of them laughed, before walking into the Potions classroom. The room was shadowy and large, definitely giving off the kind of vibe that one would expect from a Potions class.

Professor Repulsa stood at the front of the room, scowling at the cauldron in front of her. She looked up when they entered, made a face and muttered, ‘Sit down in pairs.’

Kim and Cassie moved to sit down together at one of the small tables, and the Professor glared at them when the legs of the chairs scraped against the floors harshly. 

‘Sorry, Professor,’ Cassie offered with a sheepish expression, and Repulsa nodded and turned back to her cauldron, muttering something to herself.

Kim couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she took her seat next to Cassie. ‘You’re such a suck-up, Chan.’ She teased, nudging the girl next to her with her elbow. Cassie shoved her back and faked a glare. 

‘Hart, I swear to God, if you don’t shut your fucking mouth.’

‘What?’ She held her hands up in mock surrender, but Kim knew that nobody would trust that considering the massive smirk on her face. Cassie slapped her on the arm playfully as she continued to threaten her.

‘I will literally kill you.’ Cassie fake glared at Kim, but her eyes sparkled with mirth and laughter. 

‘I didn’t do anything.’ Kim pouted, but Cassie paid her no heed, instead just shaking her head and turning away.

The sarcasm in her voice was literally palpable when she spoke. ‘Sure.’

Whilst the two of them had been talking, the rest of the class had been slowly filing into the classroom. With a quick glance around, Kim saw that room was pretty much equal when it came to numbers of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins and that most people had sat with someone from their own house.

She rolled her eyes. So much for house unity.

‘Listen up!’ She barked, and Kim couldn’t help but smile at the way the students in the front row leaned as far away as they could from the Professor. ‘Welcome to Potions, where if you don’t do what I say, when I say it, you’ll be in for a hellish time.’

‘Oh, fun, looks like we are starting with a threat.’ Kim muttered under her breath. Cassie was the only one close enough to catch the comment, and she almost choked on her laughter, hitting Kim underneath the table for making her laugh so much when she was supposed to be focusing. 

‘Today, we’re going to be making a pretty easy potion, considering it’s your first class. But, still, I don’t expect any of you to do very well, because, well, when has a student ever excelled in my class?’ Rita ended her sentence muttering to herself, bitterly, and Kim got the vibe that she wasn’t exactly happy with her job. ‘So,’ the Professor began again, shouting at them all, ‘the Cure for Boils is not a challenging potion, but if you don’t do it right, you will pay the price.’

Then, she turned on her heel and began setting out some of the ingredients for the students, leaving them hanging on the end of her introductory speech. 

‘Holy shit, that wasn’t ominous or vaguely threatening in the slightest, was it?’ Kim turned to Cassie, eyes wide. The other girl was more confident though, waving a hand to dismiss the worry evident on Kim’s face. 

‘She’s probably just doing it to terrorise all the muggleborns. It’s likely just some sort of joke.’ She shrugged, but Kim still had her doubts. Repulsa didn’t strike her as the kind of teacher who liked to joke with her students. 

Then, the Professor whirled round and faced the class. She gestured with her scalpel knife, pointing at them violents. ‘I want to mix up the seating plan. Apparently, we all have to make sure house unity is being promoted or whatever, so no one in the same house can be together.’

Groans and complaints were muttered, but no one outright opposed the order. ‘Uh, I guess I’m going to have to sort this, then.’ Repulsa realised, and her face became even more pointed and annoyed. 

‘Ok, so I want all the kids in the seats on the left of their paired table to swap with the kids in the seats on the right behind them. If you’re in the last row, move to the front of your row instead of the one behind.’

There was a loud scraping of chairs on stone floor as half the class got up to move seats. Kim wasn’t sure how Repulsa expected this to work perfectly, considering the fact that it wasn’t as if they had alternated Slytherin pairs and Hufflepuff pairs between the desks. Who was to say that she wouldn’t end up sat next to another Slytherin?

But when she moved reluctantly away from Cassie, she found herself sat next to a Hufflepuff girl in the row behind. And not any Hufflepuff girl, but the same one who had tried to start shit with her yesterday. Kim was pretty sure that her name was Trinity, but she couldn’t be sure. 

When Trinity made eye contact with her, the other girl dramatically rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Kim scowled at that, and turned her head to face away from the other girl. She didn’t need to give her any attention. 

‘Ok, is everyone in a pair with someone from the other house?’ Professor Repulsa asked, weariness already creeping into her tone - a worrying development considering it was the first class of not only the day, but the whole year. 

Who knew what could happen over the course of the whole year if the Professor got this easily frustrated?

A couple of hands were raised but once the Professor had switched around some of the pairs, pretty much everyone was in a partnership with someone from the other house. 

The classroom filled with the sounds of most students setting up their cauldrons and bringing out textbooks and fetching ingredients, but Kim and Trinity sat in silence. 

If she was being honest, Kim was happy to sit in silence, but it made teamwork a little bit hard. If they were going to successfully concoct this potion, there had to be an element of working together. And she needed to prepare this potion correctly, for several reasons. 

Firstly, because she wanted to be top of her year, and failing on the first day wasn’t the best way to start that. Secondly, because Rita Repulsa was convinced that no one in the class would excel, and that challenge had ignited something within her. She was going to prove her wrong.

That meant speaking to one another. Kim wasn’t a fucking psychic.

But being aware of this necessity didn’t make her want to work with the other girl, or even talk to her. Eventually, she took a deep breath and turned back to face the Hufflepuff. ‘Hey, I’m Kim.’ 

The smile that she had plastered on her face was pretty fake and forced, but she was trying. Instead of returning or even acknowledging her greeting, the girl just looked at Kim before nodding and turning away again. 

‘Uh, ok.’ Kim muttered under her breath before resolving to try again. ‘Uh, aren’t you Trinity?’

‘Trini, but yeah.’ The other girl finally spoke, but she was still kind of glaring at Kim, and she still wasn’t sure why. 

‘Oh, ok.’ Kim nodded, bothered by the awkward silence that settled between the two of them. After awhile of silence, she turned back around to Trini and raised an eyebrow challengingly.

‘Do you want me to get the ingredients or what?’ She finally said, getting a bit annoyed. The other girl barely reacted though, just continuing to sit there with her arms folded.

‘If you want.’ Trini shrugged, and Kim wanted to punch the girl.

‘Jesus Christ.’ She muttered before getting up to get some of the ingredients from the front of the room. Just as she was walking back to the table, Professor Repulsa called out:

‘These will be your partners for the rest of the year.’ Kim was pretty sure that the sound of her heart sinking into her shoes was actually audible to everyone in the room. And those who hadn’t heard it could certainly discern her feelings about her partnership with Trini based on her facial expression. 

She wasn’t going to let her very first class get derailed because of some kid who wasn’t going to work as hard as she was. Kim had come into Hogwarts with a plan to excel and she wasn’t going to let fucking Trinity Gomez hold her back from that. Kim had already had to give up being in Ravenclaw, and she wasn’t going to let this part of her plan go wrong so soon as well. 

When she returned, she slammed the ingredients down onto the table and began angrily preparing the potion, muttering under her breath the tips that her many tutors and advisors had drilled into her over the years. Trini cast her a strange look, but took half of the ingredients and got to work. 

The girls worked in silence, but often bumped elbows and stepped on each other’s toes. Glares were frequently exchanged and Kim was pretty sure that she had never seen a Hufflepuff that was filled with so much hostility. The air between them had been tense the whole lesson, and Kim was growing pretty sick of it. 

Actually, she was growing pretty sick of Trini in general, and wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of being teamed up with her all year. After all, this was only the first class, and Kim was already considering making the potion blow up in the other girl’s face just to get revenge for the shit she was pulling. 

Finally, whilst she was stirring the potion as per the instructions scrawled onto the board in chalk and waiting for the mixture to come to the boil, Kim turned to Trini and snapped, ‘What’s your issue?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Trini blanked, staring at her. 

Kim huffed a frustrated sigh. ‘What did I do to make you hate me so much?’

‘I don’t hate you.’ She muttered, turning back to the cauldron simmering between them. 

Her tone was angry and bitter when she replied. ‘Certainly could’ve fooled me.’

‘Whatever.’ Trini threw back, trying to end the conversation.

‘Trini, seriously.’ Kim rolled her eyes at the other girl, only making her scowl deeper. ‘What’s your issue with me? We have to work together for the rest of the year, so can we just get whatever this out of the way now?’

‘I don’t have an issue with you.’ The words were murmured lowly, and spoke almost petulantly, like a small child. Kim had to fight to stop herself from gritting her teeth in annoyance.

‘Sure, whatever.’ Kim rolled her eyes and bit down on her lip so hard that she almost drew blood. She had never met someone that was quite as frustrating as Trini managed to be. 

Trini sighed. ‘At least, not specifically.’

Kim looked up sharply. ‘Huh?’

The other girl rolled her eyes and finally turned to face Kim completely. Even in the darkness of the dungeons, Kim was able to see the way that her hair shone and her eyes glinted in the flickering light. ‘I don’t have an issue with you specifically.’

‘So what, you just have an issue with Slytherins?’ Kim raised an eyebrow, her stare boring into Trini. The other girl looked unbothered though, casting a dirty look at Kim.

‘More like entitled Purebloods but go off, I guess.’ Trini replied, staring straight back. Her deadpan expression made Kim’s skin crawl, so she just scowled harder at the other girl. Trini smirked victoriously at that, which only made her blood boil more.

She shifted in her seat, restless with annoyance, and scoffed at Trini’s words, which were nonsense to her. ‘That didn’t even make sense.’ 

‘It’s a Muggle phrase.’ Trini explained flippantly, waving a hand.

‘Oh.’ That made sense. Of course Muggles had their own ways of speaking - just like wizards did. Strangely enough, that had never really been something that Kim had thought about or actively realised. But hearing the phrase fall from Trini’s lips so naturally made it obvious that there was a sub-language that Muggles had developed, just as the wizarding world had. 

Trini scowled and rolled her eyes. Sarcasm dripped from her words when she replied to Kim. ‘Yeah, sorry for tainting your ears with a Muggle phrase, God forbid, huh?’

She frowned and shifted in her seat again. Kim felt uneasy and like she had something to prove to this strange kid. ‘You know, not every Slytherin Pureblood hates Muggles and Muggleborns. At least, I’m assuming you’re a Muggleborn, considering your hatred for me and your use of Muggle phrases.’

‘Well, sorry that most of your people hate me on principle and that I don’t take you at your word.’ Trini rolled her eyes dismissively, and Kim scowled. She didn’t have an issue with her being a Muggleborn, but she did have an issue with her being a fucking dick.

‘Yeah, but I don’t. Hate you, I mean. So could you lay off?’ The words were barbed and pointed, spat from Kim’s sharp tongue like their point was more physical than anything else.

‘Whatever.’ Trini scoffed and rolled her eyes. Kim had to grit her teeth to stop her from saying anything too bad in reply.

‘Wow, thanks.’ She left it there and turned back to the potion. It had begun to bubble and turn the colour that it was supposed to, so Kim completed the final instructions on the board. 

‘Well, what do you want me to say?’ Trini still wasn’t doing anything to help Kim in the brewing or finishing of the potion, instead staring hard into the side of the other girl’s head. 

‘How about literally anything?’ Kim raised an eyebrow, but didn’t deign herself to look at the girl next to her.

‘Shut up, Hart.’ Trini grumbled, turning away from her sulkily, like a child having a tantrum.

‘How do you know my last name?’ Kim asked, curious. Trini had no reason to know about her. 

‘You’re literally the only thing that most of the school talks about.’ The words sounded a little bit bitter, but all that Kim could do was draw her eyebrows together in confusion. 

‘What?’ 

Trini’s reply made her heart sink, only made worse by the other girl’s matter of fact tone, like it was obvious. ‘Yeah, because of your Sorting.’

‘Fuck.’ Kim muttered under her breath. She had hoped that no one would make too much of a big deal of it, but it sounded like those who knew the Harts were making a stir.

Trini snorted and scoffed derisively. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, is this the first experience of a slight problem that you have experienced, little rich kid?’ Her condescending tone and words made Kim’s blood boil in fury and she whipped her head to face Trini.

‘Hey, why don’t you fuck off?’ Aggression and anger rushed through her and she didn’t even realise what she was doing until the chair had scraped back on the stone flooring and she was stood up, her hands were curled into fists so tight that her knuckles were turning white and she felt like she was seconds away from punching Trini. 

‘What are you going to do, huh? Punch me?’ Trini raised an eyebrow before snorting dismissively and turning away. ‘Whatever.’

‘Fuck off, Trini.’ Kim spat, before sitting back down heavily in her seat. Anger coursed through her and she gritted her teeth. She needed to calm down. Kim focused on her breathing, the rise and the fall of her chest. 

‘What the hell is your problem?’ Trini grumbled, glaring at Kim. She had to fight hard not to jump up again and spit a response back, so she tried to mince her words as much as she could.

‘You’re the one with the issue. Thanks to me, we got a good grade.’ 

Silence reigned for a while, and it was glorious. For the first time in the whole lesson, Kim didn’t feel like throwing herself out of the nearest window, or using her wand to set herself on fire and just burn to death. 

But, of course, like all good and wonderful things, it was only fleeting; Trini turned back to say something else before long. Kim rolled her eyes when she saw her do so - she was literally begging this girl to just shut up so she could find the internal strength to let this all go. Kim genuinely didn’t want to hate anyone this quickly, but Trini was making that fucking hard.

‘You know what, I changed my mind.’ Trini said cryptically, and Kim couldn’t help but turn in her seat to look at the other girl. 

Raising an eyebrow and with a heavy sigh, Kim asked, ‘What?’

‘You know how I told you to call me Trini?’

‘Yeah?’ She had no idea where this was going. 

‘To you, it’s Trinity.’ Trini said, turning back to the textbook in front of her, like Kim wasn’t even there anymore.

She felt herself wilt. She was so tired, and so done. Why the fuck was this Hufflepuff kid being so fucking petty?‘Dude, what the fuck.’

Not even turning around, Trini - or should she say Trinity - responded, ‘Call me Trini and I’ll punch you so hard, you won’t be able to speak at all.’

‘Fine. Call me Kimberly.’ She wasn’t going to let her get the last word. She didn’t even want her to call her that - she hated it when people used her full first name - but there was no way in hell that she was going to let this end on that note.

‘Sure thing, princess.’ Bright sarcasm filled Trini’s tone, and Kim was pretty sure that so much emphasis had never been placed on the word princess before.

‘You’re insufferable.’ Kim scowled, and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

Trini responded flatly, barely even looking at Kim. ‘You’re unbearable.’

‘You’re the worst thing about Hogwarts.’

‘I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate you.’

Kim sent Trini a self-satisfied smirk and flipped her hair over her shoulder. ‘Good to know I’m that important to you.’

Nothing was said for a while, the air tense between them. It was only just as the Professor yelled for the class to leave the Potions room, that Kim caught Trini murmur under her breath, ‘Shit.’

Smugly, she got up from her chair, grabbed her bag and strode out of the room in one smooth motion, the feeling of Trini’s glare still hot on the back of her head.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a train wreck but i hope you enjoyed
> 
> hmu on tumblr at unhauntng
> 
> i honestly can't remember if the other one of Kim's ex popular friends is named in the film, but i know that she is called rebecca in 'wild pitch', that really great fic. if it turns out that she actually isn't called that, then credit to the author of wild pitch for the name for rebecca.
> 
> oh and btw, if y'all are wondering about the houses and why i made kim's family so obsessed with ravenclaw, it is because the houses are supposed to reflect the way that we need to accept the people that we really are as opposed to the people that our parents think that we are supposed to be. it's all a metaphor for being different to who you think you should be, but realising that it's where you belong and that you can't help who you are. 
> 
> anyway, i love extended metaphors like that


End file.
